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Austria and Switzerland or Germany and Austria? Can't decide!

My husband and I (and two young daughters) started off thinking we would like to visit Bavaria and Salzburg in one week. We only have one week. I still love the idea, but have now been intrigued about adding Switzerland to the trip. I initially thought of flying in and out of Munich and planned on doing road trips in Bavaria, spending a night or two in Fuessen and/or Prien, and definitely spending a couple of days in Salzburg, then seeing Munich, either at arrival or departure. Salzburg is a must for us! So my question is: Is it possible to fly into Zurich, take the Bernina express or Galcier express, then move onto Bavaria and Salzburg? We would probably have to fly out of Munich, since making the hike back to Zurich seems like too much. Any thought, comments, suggestions?

We spent 5 days in Munich alone and did not see everything possible. How old are your daughters and what are your family interests? There is the English Garten, Neuschwanstein, various churches and museums, nymphenberg schloss, olympic park, outdoor markets, Eagles Nest, Dachau, Hofbrau Haus, etc.

I agree. Pick either Switzerland for a week OR Bavaria and Austria. Between Munich, Salzburg, Fuessen, Berchtesgaden, Innsbruck, Zell am See, Mittenwald, Garmisch, etc. etc. you'll run out of time before you ever run out of beautiful places to visit in Bavaria and Austria. Flying into/out of Munich makes perfect sense.

Forget the Glacier Express, to me the most overhyped scenic train in Europe - oh it is nice scenery most of the way but the way is a marathon 8-hour journey if you take it all and most of the scenery is ho-hum (for Switzerland) so folks IME get quickly bored and pay more attention to the novel tilting wine glasses and keeping them full than the scenery after a bit.

The Bernina Express to me is the most awesomely scenic rail ride in Europe! But it is a long detour from your other places of interest. Yes perhaps decide on Switzerland or Austria and Germany.

Thanks everyone! It sounds like we should visit Switzerland at another time. There's something about alpine scenic views that excite me, much like our Big Sur trip a couple of year ago in the coast of California. Perhaps if we see a little of the Alps from the Austria or German side we should be good. My girls are really young (3 and 1 y.o.), so we would rather stay in a couple of locations and take day trips, than spend long hours on a train or hop around from town to town. If the train ride took us from A to B and we could stay in both places for a two to three days, than it would make sense. But if doing that creates a big detour, than it's not worth it.
thanks again for all the input!

The Arlberg railway line between Zurich and Innsbruck to Salzburg is quite scenic. Still we are talking about 5 to 6 hours on the train, in the real world a full day would be lost; if your time is limited visiting only one area is the thing to do.

Make your maths:
2 days at Salzburg
2 days (at least!) at Munich
1 day for your trip to the Disneyland like kitsch castle of Neuschwanstein.
1 day for Chiemsee.
You need at least 6 days for the places you absolutely want to see.
You may spend your 7th day at Zugspitze (a middle range mountain of some 10000 ft) as Michel sugggested.

No, Germany is enough. Garmisch is a Olympic ski village with many things to see and do as well as the Zugspitze and gorge. Munich has many things to see also. A day trip to Salzburg or visit Landshut north of Munich for a different feel. It is a walled city.

1 day for your trip to the Disneyland like kitsch castle of Neuschwanstein.>

once again a native European laughs at why folks want to go to Neuschwanstein but they do and like me most love it - yes it is an Ersatz medieval castle but a fun one - not like the usual boring tour - a surprise at every turn and if you study the history behind it and of "Mad' King Ludwig it comes to life - traipsing up to the Marienbrucke where the king often sat to ponder the construction - he could only live in it 10 days or so before he as assassination by drowning before he could completely bankrupt the Bavarian Treasury with his castle building mania.

I have no problem with tourists visiting Neuschwanstein as long as they don't believe to have visited a medieval castle.

The real problem is that Neuschwanstein is a building sui generis, neither a fortress nor a classical palace. In all real castles, towers (and walls) had a defense function, whereas at Neuschwanstein, they have no function (pure decoration).
Most palaces were built at places where the ruler lived, whereas Neuschwanstein is atypically in the middle of nothing.

But I know that there are other atypical castles too, like Miramare (for a Prince who lived there but who never ruled, at least as long as he was in Europe) or some Palaces of the King of Morocco (where the King never slept).

ah the old French phrase A Chacun a son gout or however it goes - each to their own taste - I simply loved Newuschwanstein for its eclectic look and interior and the very interesting history of Mad Ludwig which caused it to be built thus - I've toured zillions of other castles and most left me thinking well a whole lot of old wall carpets, furnishings, etc but not real excitement.

neckervd's point is well take so if looking for a real medieval castle do to Hohenschwangau, next to Neuschwanstein - I believe Ludwig grew up in Hohenschwangau, an authentic medieval castle that however very few of the mobs who descned on Neuschwanstein bother to visit, but should!

Hohenschwangau was built 1837 on the ruins of a real medieval fortress. It served as a summer palace to the Wittelsberg family.
It's certainly not a real medieval castle, like Marienburg, Braunfels, Hohenzollern, Salses, etc.

neckervd - thanks for the correcto - I guess I read that Hohenschwangau was a real medieval castle but must have meant at one time - the new castle was built on the ruins of the medieval one - Neuschwanstein was a completely new creation but on no old foundations.

Actually the Mad Ludwig castle I like the best is Herrenchiemsee, lvoingly set on an island in the placid Chiemsee, surrounded by foothills of the Alps - you take a boat to it - it is the Bavarian Versailles - modelled after Versailles so Mad Ludwig could have his own Versailles.

Train to Prien the short walk to boat dock or in season a tiny steam train takes you down to the docks.

Love love love all the input! Thanks everyone!
Our interest in visiting Neuschwantein is exactly for its unfinished, eclectic look. Also, there is something about where it's nestled that interests me. So that's definitely staying in our plans.
We'll definitely stick to Bavaria then. My question now is: is it better to visit the area in mid April or late august? That's my new battle...
Also, would y'all recommend staying at B&Bs or hotels?

with girls that young, I would skip Switzerland. Save it for when they're older and when they can actually hike with you! And save your $$ in the meantime!

But seriously, I agree that you have plenty to do around Bavaria traveling at a toddler's pace.

As for weather, I don't know, esp. with the type of weather we've been having (unseasonably warm). We still had snow in April in 2013 and perhaps that will happen again this year. August will be warm-ish, most likely, though rain is alway a possibility...as well as a possible heat wave (and not many places here have A/C). It will be slower in August, in one sense, but otoh, lots of people will be traveling so hotels will be more full/expensive. But the Biergartens will be open in August, and IMO, those are the best for the kids (& parents of little ones)

As for places to stay...
I was thinking: 2-3 nights in Fussen, 2-3 nights in Salzburg and the remainder time in Munich (1-2 nights). What's best (or do y'all have suggestions?): airbnb, B&Bs, or hotels?

The plan you just posted sounds reasonable. I know you said a week, but is that 7 total nights in Europe? How do you plan on traveling, by car or train/bus? If it were me deciding between April or August, I might lean towards April. We've done many trips to Bavaria/Austria in the fall (late Sept./Oct.), two trips in winter (Nov./Dec.) and one in late April/early May.

We always (with very few exceptions) stay in B&B's, Pensions, etc.

IF you have 7 nights and have a car, I'd suggest 3 nights Salzburg/Berchtesgaden, 2 nights Fuessen or even Garmisch/Mittenwald and your last 2 nights in Munich. Garmisch is only an hour or so from Fuessen (Neuschwanstein), so it also makes a good alternative to Fuessen.

I wrote "Salzburg/Berchtesgaden" as these 2 are only 30 minutes apart by car. We prefer to stay in the Berchtesgaden area for visits that include Salzburg. The alpine scenery is beautiful in this area. If you're looking for recommendations on places to stay, we can suggest:
In the Berchtesgaden area:

Thanks, Paul. That's helpful! And you've assumed right: we will have 7 nights total, which means about 8 days, since we should arrive early in the morning on a Friday and leave afternoon of the following Saturday. The idea is to rent a car to make day trips around thre areas. Thanks again, all!